120-year-old building collapses, kills 13-year-old student in Ekiti

A 120-year-old building collapsed in Igede-Ekiti in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area of Ekiti State, which claimed life of a 13-year-old student of  a public secondary school in the ancient town, while a couple and their three-year-old child escaped with serious injuries from the tragedy.

Penpushing reports that eyewitness account said as soon as the building fell at about 2 a.m., neighbours rushed in to rescue the trapped family members and took the injured victims to the hospital, but the 13-year-old girl was unlucky

The cause of the collapse of the building which occurred on Tuesday, as at the time of filing this report could not be ascertained but sources said the building had previously been marked for demolition by officials of the local government.

Penpushing further reports that a top management staff of the Ekiti State Emergency Management Authority (EKSEMA), Funmilola Laka, said officials of the agency were also at the scene to help with the rescue operations, adding that the agency had commenced investigations on the matter.

The Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Monisade Afuye, on Wednesday, visited the site of the collapsed building, and described the incident as devastating and agonising, calling on occupants of dilapidated buildings across the state to relocate to safeguard their lives.

Penpushing also reports that Afuye equally took time to visit Adeyinka Adebayo General Hospital in Iyin Ekiti, where the injured survivors were receiving medical car, assuring that  the government would foot the medical bills of the victims.

The Deputy Governor directed the Ekiti State Emergency Management Authority (EKSEMA) to provide alternative accommodation for the affected family, adding that the Ministry of Physical and Urban Planning would begin aggressive enforcement of the relevant laws to evict residents of distressed buildings in the state.

‘This is one incident that really saddened my heart. How could we lose precious human life to such an avoidable circumstance? The building must have been giving some signs for long,” the governor lamented.

“If you check very well, the adjoining buildings are not even safe. The government agents will visit here soon to assess those houses and probably pull them down. We have enough regulations and extant laws that guide building residency in Ekiti and our people should comply while trying to apply these laws; it is for their own benefit, which is to ensure safety and avoidable loss of the precious lives of our people.”

Penpushing reports that, one of the sons of the owner of the house, Lanre Olagunju told the entourage of the Deputy Governor that the building did not show signs of distress before it suddenly collapsed.

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